1973 was an eventful season for Angels pitcherNolan Ryan. On May 15, Ryan threw the first no-hitter of his career.[2] On July 3, he struck out Sal Bando of the Oakland Athletics for the 1000th strikeout in his career.[3] Twelve days later, Ryan threw a second no-hitter, becoming the fifth pitcher in major league history to throw two no-hitters in one season.[4]

For the year, Ryan set what is, as of 2010, the post-1900 Major League Baseball record for most strikeouts in a season with 383, topping Sandy Koufax's 1965 mark by one.[5] (The all-time record belongs to Matt Kilroy, who struck out 513 batters in 1886).[5] In the process, he struck out at least 10 batters in 23 different games.[6]